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Alex Marwood “The suspense keeps the pages flying, but what sets this one apart is the palpable sense of onrushing doom.” —Stephen King, “The Best Books I Read This Year,” Entertainment Weekly

Alex Marwood’s new book, The Darkest Secret, will be available from Penguin on August 30, 2016

The Edgar Award-winning psychological thriller that asks the question: How well can you know anyone?

On a fateful summer morning in 1986, two eleven-year-old girls meet for the first time. By the end of the day, they will both be charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, journalist Kirsty Lindsay is reporting on a series of sickening attacks on young female tourists in a seaside vacation town when her investigation leads her to interview carnival cleaner Amber Gordon. For Kirsty and Amber, it’s the first time they’ve seen each other since that dark day so many years ago. Now with new, vastly different lives—and unknowing families to protect—will they really be able to keep their wicked secret hidden?Gripping and fast-paced, with an ending that will stay with you long after you’ve read it, The Wicked Girls takes you to a thrillingly dark place youve never been before. Ideal for fans of Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and Tana French.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Alex Marwood “The Killer Next Door is even better [than The Wicked Girls]. Scary as hell. Great characters.” —Stephen King

Winner of the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel and nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original

Alex Marwood’s new book, The Darkest Secret, is available now from Penguin Books

Everyone who lives at 23 Beulah Grove has a secret. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be renting rooms in a sketchy South London building for cash—no credit check, no lease. It’s the kind of place you end up when you you’ve run out of other options. The six residents mostly keep to themselves, but one unbearably hot summer night, a terrible accident pushes them into an uneasy alliance. What they don’t know is that one of them is a killer. He’s already chosen his next victim, and he’ll do anything to protect his secret.

Alex Marwood’s debut novel The Wicked Girls earned her lavish praise from the likes of Elizabeth Haynes, Laura Lippman, and Erin Kelly and received the Edgar Award. Now, Marwood’s back with a brilliant, tightly paced thriller that will keep you up at night and make you ask yourself: just how well do you know your neighbors?

“Taut, assured and reminiscent of Ruth Rendell's psychological novels, Marwood's second book more than lives up to the promise shown in her splendid debut, The Wicked Girls.” —The Guardian

When a child goes missing at an opulent house party, it makes international news. But what really happens behind closed doors?Twelve years ago, Mila Jackson’s three-year-old half-sister Coco disappeared during their father’s fiftieth birthday party. Her identical twin Ruby was left behind as the only witness. The girls’ father, Sean, was wealthy and influential, as were the friends gathered at their seaside vacation home for the weekend’s debauchery. The case ignited a media frenzy and forever changed the lives of everyone involved.

Now, Sean Jackson is dead, and the people who were present that terrible night must gather once more for a funeral that will reveal that the secrets of the past can never stay hidden. Perfectly paced all the way through its devastating conclusion, The Darkest Secret is one that fans of Gillian Flynn and Liane Moriarty won't be able to put down.

“As much a black comedy of contemporary bad manners as psychological thriller, The Darkest Secret is a triumph and a treat.” —The Irish Times